Holiday poinsettias are as much a part of the Christmas fabric as the Nativity scene or the traditional wreaths. Native to Mexico, poinsettias are classic winter bloomers. Commonly known here as flores de nochebuena, or flowers of the Holy Night, have come to resonate with Christians beyond the country’s borders. As many as 500 million fire plants […]
Continue ReadingDid you know that the word “cigar” originates from the Mayan word xigar? The word was used to describe the action of aspirating or sucking which later came to signify the act of smoking tobacco. The Spaniards adopted the word from the Mayans and morphed it into cigarro to mean rolled smoking tobacco, and now the word is […]
Continue ReadingDid you know that the first people known to have used the peanut were the Mayans of Mexico? International explorers first recorded the peanut in Haiti, but were told it had originally been taken from the Mayan lands. The Mayans called it ” cocoa de la tierra“, because it is harvested from the ground. In fact […]
Continue ReadingDid you know that peanuts, vanilla, guavas, tomatoes, some forty different chiles, avocados, and papayas originally came from Mexico? Pineapple also grew wild in Mexico, as well as Peru and along the Orinoco River in South America, but it was through Mexico that the pineapple became cultivated throughout the world. Explorers found the fruit in […]
Continue ReadingFrom the late 17th century and throughout the 18th, Castille soap was the reigning soap of Europe. It surpassed even the French soaps that, at their peak, were considered supremely prized elements of the wealthy person¹s toiletry. The formula for Castille soap was a highly guarded secret in Spain, primarily because of its financial viability […]
Continue ReadingOne of the greatest gifts the Indigenous peoples of Mexico shared with the world was their discovery and cultivation of natural fibers. One of these, henequén, continues to be used throughout the world for manufacturing and industry. Found originally in the eastern part of the Yucatán peninsula, henequén was used by the Maya and Inca for ropes, cables, nets, […]
Continue ReadingThe Vanilla Festival is held in early summer every year in Papantla, Veracruz. The origins of the festival pre-date the Spanish conquest. Its timing is now tied to the Catholic celebration of the Feast of Corpus Christi (Body of Christ), sixty days after Easter. Papantla is the heart of Mexico’s vanilla-growing region. Vanilla, surely one […]
Continue ReadingLa Cucaracha (The Cockroach), one of Mexico’s best known corridos, is a comic, satirical song, with infinite possibilities for creative verses. The typical chorus is: La cucaracha, la cucaracha Ya no puede caminar Porque no tiene, porque le falta Marihuana que fumar. Which translates into English as The cockroach, the cockroach Can not walk anymore Because […]
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New Yorker Janelle Lynch, at a relatively young age, has garnered international recognition over the last decade for her large-format photographs of urban and rural landscapes in which the human form is loath to figure. Landscapes devoid of human activity or, if depicted at all, reminiscent of a corrosive delineation, typify Lynch’s oeuvre — and […]
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Driving across the state of Durango, flowers paint each region’s landscapes with local colors. Wildflower lovers enjoy Durangan flowers nearly all year long because a few hardy species tough out the region’s mild winters. Even so, mid- to late-summer and early-fall stage Durango’s most spectacular wildflower show, with composites lining roadsides, converting them into flowing […]
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